In “Bulgasal: Immortal Souls” Episode 14, Eul Tae killed Hye Suk, which broke down Hwal, and he also found a truth about himself which changed everything he had believed in. Hwal was the original Bulgasal who had asked Eul Tae to turn him into Bulgasal once again when he was reincarnated and to kill his family. Sang Un has also started remembering her past and has seen the brutal, monstrous side of the original Bulgasal, Hwal. Neither Hwal nor Sang Un remember their past exactly, or what their connection was from 1000 years ago. Nevertheless, their plan to trap Eul Tae in the well still stands, but will they be successful? Let’s find out.
See More: ‘Bulgasal: Immortal Souls’ Review: A Modern Rendition Of Korean Folklore With A Twist
The Final Battle: Hwal’s Death Wish
Hwal was broken down due to the loss of Hye Suk and had asked Sang Un, Si Ho, and Do Yun to leave him alone for their own safety. However, they come back for him, and they decide to stay together until the end. Detective Kwon has not returned to them yet as he is still contemplating what Eul Tae has told him about Hwal. Now, Hwal has only one option left with him, and that is to kill Eul Tae, which means he has to die as well. Sang Un opposes this and asks Hwal to turn her into a Bulgasal so that she can die instead of him. She wants Hwal to spend human life with his family, something he couldn’t do in the past.
In this debate between Hwal and Sang Un, Si Ho and Do Yun feel left out and make their own plans to show both of them that their opinions matter as well. They just want Sang Un and Hwal to come back alive and live like a normal family. Hwal agrees and promises them to not kill himself and come back alive. Kwon returns with the location of Eul Tae, and the three of them make a plan to capture Eul Tae in the well. Kwon had lived all of his life in search of the Bulgasal who killed his father and younger sister. He thought Eul Tae was the culprit, but it was Hwal who was responsible for Kwon’s loss. Will Kwon really help Hwal, or is it a trap? Will they make it back alive?
What Happened 1000 Years Ago?
Around 1000 years ago, the only two existing Bulgasals lived on a mountain. Hwal and Sang Un were those Bulgasals, and they were also each other’s lovers. They lived away from human habitation in a cave. Sang Un found a little girl and her baby brother trying to hide in a cave away from soldiers who had killed their parents. She saved them and dropped them off at a local villager’s house, who later raised them. The villager was Hye Suk, and the kids were Si Ho and Do Yun. After they met accidentally again a few times, the kids grew fond of Sang Un, and so did Sang Un of them. She started living with them in the village, leaving Hwal alone in the cave.
Hwal was always worried that Sang Un would leave him for humans, and she did what he feared. Sang Un promised him to come back once the kids grew up, and he waited for her every day. The kids didn’t know that she was a Bulgasal, but Hye Suk had realized that she was not a human because she didn’t age at all in years. The kids had grown up now, but Sang Un had been living with them like a family, and it was difficult for her to leave them. They were a minute part of her immortal life, which made her happy. When Si Ho and Do Yun were picking herbs on the mountain, they saw Eul Tae killing his brother, and Eul Tae tried to kill them to hide his crime. Sang Un came and saved them, but Eul Tae used Sang Un in his favor. He told the king that a Bulgasal killed his brother and lived in the village.
The king and his soldiers tried to harm Sang Un, and Hwal came running to save her. He was enraged and killed the entire village. When Kwon, Si Ho, and Do Yun stabbed Hwal with a sword, Sang Un also stabbed herself. Hwal cursed Kwon, who was king at that time, Si Ho, and Do Yun, saying they would have miserable lives as long as a Bulgasal was alive because they were the reason Sang Un got into that situation. Just when Hwal was about to die, Eul Tae asked him to make him a Bulgasal. Hwal did so on the condition that he make him Bulgasal again when he reincarnates. If Eul Tae had not lied, none of this would have happened, and all of them would not be trapped in this vicious cycle of karma.
‘Bulgasal: Immortal Souls’ Season 1: Ending Explained
Hwal goes inside to face Eul Tae first, while Kwon and Sang Un wait outside with a gun and poisonous injections. Hwal plans to tire out Eul Tae, and Kwon and Sang Un will attack him afterwards to make him weaker. He made the plan knowing very well that Eul Tae is much stronger than him and can easily take him down. It was as if he was making a death wish, but Sang Un still had hope that Hwal would survive. As expected, Eul Tae overpowers Hwal and throws him into the well with injuries that won’t heal for many years without human blood.
Eul Tae now only has to kill Sang Un, but Kwon shoots him with the gun. Kwon knew he shouldn’t shoot into Eul Tae’s heart, but he still did. He wanted both the Bulgasals to die. He wanted to avenge Hwal, who killed his family, but Sang Un reminded her of how many times Hwal had saved them and that he wasn’t as cruel as he thought he was. Kwon comes back to his senses and lets Eul Tae attack him so that Sang Un can run away. He is fatally injured and has realized his mistake of betraying Hwal. He knows if Hwal has to survive, he needs human blood. Hwal hasn’t drunk human blood in years, but Kwon urges him to do so this time. Kwon gives his own blood to Hwal, who is lying still in the well.
Sang Un runs away as far as she can, but Eul Tae finds her. However, he senses Hwal coming back with power and runs away to the cave where Hwal lived 1000 years ago. Sang Un follows them as well and sees Hwal injured again. Eul Tae attacks Sang Un, but Hwal uses all of his energy left and bites Eul Tae and stabs him in the heart. He becomes weak and unable to fight back against Hwal. Hwal talks to Sang Un in a final conversation and stabs himself as well. He vanishes into the air while being in Sang Un’s arms. Sang Un calls for Si Ho to come and pick her up, but she dies in her arms when she arrives. Hwal and Sang Un, both die for each other. A painful series of karmic events ends after 1000 years.
Si Ho and Do Yun are happy and have a large family, just as they promised Sang Un.Do Yun gets married and moves out of Hwal’s house, but Si Ho refuses to leave the house until she gets old. She searched for them and waited for Sang Un and Hwal to return every day of her life. 50 years later, Do Yun finds Sang Un reincarnated and sends her a picture and the address of Hwal’s house. She visits the house out of curiosity and meets Hwal, who is there to buy the house. Those who cross the path in one life are destined to cross it again in subsequent lives.
Hwal and Sang Un’s incomplete love story of 1000 years might be successful this time after all the bad karma paid off by them. Bulgasals do not have a soul, but ironically, Hwal and Sang Un were like one soul in two bodies who found each other in every lifetime, like twin flames. Eul Tae’s actions were responsible for ruining all of these people’s lives for 1000 years, but they did pay for it. He lived a more miserable life than all of them. When he was a human, he just wanted to be loved and appreciated, so he became a Bulgasal in order to become strong. If he cannot be loved, he can be feared. Even so, he was never born a villain and still wanted to be loved but never got any. Hwal, Sang Un, Kwon, and Hye Suk died for someone and they will be remembered, but Eul Tae died for no one and will be remembered by no one.
Will There Be ‘Bulgasal: Immortal Souls’ Season 2?
Even after the end of Bulgasal: Immortal Souls Season 1, some intriguing questions still remain unanswered. Like, Hwal had said that Bulgasals do not reincarnate, but he did. He did not have a soul to reincarnate in a human body. Also, Sang Un died with Hwal’s soul in her body and she must be reincarnated with the same soul, now without Bulgasal’s curse, but all the other monsters who were after Hwal’s soul, won’t attack her again? It is unclear if Kwon, Hye Suk, and Eul Tae reincarnated, but if they did and are still bound to cross each other’s paths, we can expect to see a next season where they remember their pasts and a game of revenge starts again. Either way, who doesn’t love a happy ending? Hwal and Sang Un meet again and live happily ever after. Everyone deserves a happy ending, so do Sang Un and Hwal.
“Bulgasal: Immortal Souls” is a 2021 South Korean Drama Thriller Television Series streaming on Netflix.
